Featured Blog Posts (179)

My German Shepherd-mix rescue pup, Baer, is a great dog. He’s all legs and energy, so sometimes I think of him as Fred Astaire, and sometimes more as the Energizer Bunny on steroids. Especially near mealtimes.

I feed my dogs twice a day, and I’m convinced they have clocks in their stomachs, because right around 5:30 p.m. (a half hour before their 6:00 p.m. meal), they get antsy. In particular, Baer. But around 5:30 p.m., I may very well still be working—as I am today, and…

Whether important or not, life-altering or just annoying, why is it that a single critical comment from your spouse, child or business partner hurts more than the compliment or appreciative words they offer? Why does that criticism linger while the compliment fades away almost immediately?

A Duke University study has unravelled some findings about children born out of wedlock and what it means for the parents and the children. In short, the researchers suggest that the "magic moment" for parents to get married after their baby is born is before the child's third birthday. This is when a lot of federal policies are available and the effects, according to the researchers, last longer than…

Husband and wife superstar marriage aficionados, John and Julie Gottman, founders of the Gottman Institute, were recently interviewed by The Atlantic where they share some of their time-tested research. None of this is new information, but it's always great to…

Rest easy husbands, a new study in the International Association for Relationship Research’s journal Personal Relationships found that women in relationships were able to recall, and focused on, the negative qualities of attractive men they aren’t dating. The researchers conducted three experiments with undergraduate, heterosexual women, showing them pictures of "attractive"…

Oh how times have changed. In a survey of over 2,000 men between 18-49 years of age, 54% of husbands said they shop for groceries and household supplies more often than their spouses. This was part of Defy Media’s second annual Acumen Report: Brand New Man. According to this…

A half a million women in North America and Europe participated in randomized clinical trials where half had mammograms and the other half did not. In the end, there was virtually no difference in mortality rate of breast cancer or other types of cancers, but 10% of those who were screened were given false diagnosis. The chart below puts the numbers more clearly. In a Time magazine…

Ugh. We can do better than this. Researchers at the University of Michigan looked through 20 years of data on 2,717 married couples and found that 31 percent of marriages involving at least one sick partner end in divorce; and worse, the risk of separation for older couples was higher when the wife, not the husband was ill. Not sure if this is cosmic justice, but men…

Sonia Van Meter is a wife and stepmother who has made the semifinalist list to join a crew on a one-way trip to Mars in the attempt to establish a permanent human colony there. From over 200,000 applicants, Sonia is now just one of 1,058 remaining for the Mars One mission. Her husband, Jason Stanford, has written a…

New research out of The Ohio State University studied 107 married couples, using voodoo dolls to track how angry spouses felt toward each other for three weeks. Every night before bed and every morning the couples would have their blood glucose measured (i.e., blood sugar level). Those who poked the voodoo doll most to express their anger toward their spouse were those with the lowest glucose…

According to a team of economists headed by Jeremy Greenwood of the University of Pennsylvania, the more educated people are, the more likely they are to be married to a partner of similar education. Those with less education are also likely to be married to a spouse with less education. Back in the 1960s that might not have been too…

A fragment of papyrus that was originally revealed to the world in 2012 has been undergoing tests to validate its authenticity. The scientists have done their studies and the verdict is in: the papyrus is ancient. While the age of the document is all fine and good, it's what is written on it that makes it so…

It seems being married has its benefits in the virtual world as it does in the real world. If you're an online gamer you know that earlier this month Bethesda released the latest in the Elder Scrolls saga with The Elder Scrolls Online. Within the new role-playing game (in the Imperial Edition only) characters can get married and with that…

It's a common thought that a happy wife equaled a happy life. It turns out that new research of 953 couples from the University of Chicago found that marital happiness is actually more aligned with the happiness and health of the husband. The study “Marital Conflict in Older Couples:…

It's a new year with new tax rules. DailyFinance has put together a good write-up showing when it makes sense for couples to file jointly, lowering the amount their income will get taxed; and when to file separately because being married and filing jointly will…

It's pizza night and you and your spouse just aren't sure what you want on your pizza. Well, Pizza Hut is demonstrating a new cool interactive tabletop that lets you and your spouse order your pizza just how you want it. This Time article offers a few details if you want to know more.

What other restaurant/food establishment would you like to see an interactive…

Oxytocin is often referred as the "love hormone" because of its role in facilitating attachments. This oxytocin infographic highlights just a few tidbits about recent research explaining how this molecules shapes our social lives.